Expectations were high for this theater, which was created by Ohio-based Audio Video Interiors for a homeowner who has extraordinary taste in fine art and past experience as a musician.
The solution, which delivered high performance without interrupting the design integrity of the Arabian-influenced home, won the Level II Gold Technical Design Award in CEDIA’s 2011 Electronic Lifestyles® Awards competition.
Objectives:
When the President and CEO of a firm that designs and produces world-renowned traveling museums and fine-art exhibits builds a home, chances are it’s going to be extraordinary. This home in northeast Ohio did not disappoint.
Aesthetically, the electronics and acoustical design had to maintain the integrity of the “Arabian” theme represented throughout the home. For his theater, the homeowner wanted a space that could feel like a dedicated theater but also lend itself to a house-wide entertainment situation where people would be roaming in and out or just “hang out” and listen to good music.
As a former musician, the client also had specific performance criteria in the audio department. Making sure the speaker system could reproduce music as well as a movie soundtrack was top priority.
Technical Highlights:
The Triad Gold Monitors along with the Silver Series subwoofers and surrounds deliver a very crisp, accurate sound that fills this room with awesome sound even though the room is open to the rest of the lower level at the back of the room. Room calibration was especially important considering the non-traditional room layout and the fact that the client has a very discerning musical ear.
Challenges:
The biggest challenge for this room was the owner’s decision to make this a non-enclosed space. Working in a room that featured a curved back wall and openings to the rest of the lower level made predicting the acoustical performance of the room very difficult. The client understood that there were trade-offs to the sound performance due to this but was willing to accept that for the aesthetics of the space.
Limited ceiling height and the confining soffit dimensions also challenged the size and placement of the projector. Not being able to predict audio performance meant a lot more attention needed to be placed on interpreting performance when calibrating the room.
Calibrations:
Audio Video Interiors calibrated the audio using the on-board Audyssey equalization of the Rotel surround receiver. Hours were spent adjusting the custom target curve to balance between ideal standards and client performance desires.
The projector and video processor were calibrated using a Sencore VP403 test-pattern generator with the Sencore CP5000 Color Analyzer. ISF standards were adhered to.
Result:
“Many companies can create a performance theater using very high-end equipment in a rectangular room with the right dimensions, but very few can create a high-performance room in a challenging space using modest equipment,” says Audio Video Interiors. “Our technical staff will always remember the look on our musician client’s face when he first heard his new home theater. He had prepared himself for less than ‘optimal’ performance and was very glad to be wrong!”
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To learn more about this and other award-winning projects, check out the latest issue of Electronic Lifestyles® magazine online or in print. Enter CEDIA’s Electronic Lifestyles® Awards competition at www.cedia.org/awards. Click here (PDF) to learn how your work can be featured in an upcoming issue of Electronic Lifestyles® magazine.
